fallen down on the list. so we are trying to get an answer as soon as possible, andre andrea. >> thank you, kristen, i'll be catching up later today. that does it for us for this special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" make sure to tune in live tonight for complete coverage of the speech. right now, craig melvin next to me in cleveland. craig, more talk about corey booker so maybe there is a clinton surprise. >> meanwhile, the indefatigable andrea mitchell, florida then philly. >> unless they send me someplace else. >> fast and furious developments this afternoon as senator ted cruz steels night three. also stealing day four here at the rnc. we're also, of course, keeping a very close eye on the convention flo floor.

live looks on the convention floor. candidates traditionally walk through the hall ahead of their speech closing out the convention. that may happen. we bring it to you live. instead of the focus being squarely on trump's prime time address, it's on cruz, greeted mostly as a hero by the texas delegation doubling down the refusal to endorse donald trump. katy tur has been covering this angle closely. katy, you've been talking with sources inside the trump campaign. what are they telling you? >> there's frustration within the trump campaign over ted cruz. they thought his speech would be more positive towards donald trump. they even hoped at the last minute they could get an endorsement out of him. there's reporting that jeff roe got a call from jason miller from the trump campaign saying we would really like ted cruz to endorse donald trump tonight. that didn't happen. but that didn't expect a report

later on. there was no endorsement within that remarks. the cruz team never said they would give an endorsement. still as he went on last night. went longer than expected, talked about voting your con shengs and when the new york delegation started to boo the trump campaign seized that moment, took advantage of that moment. they're saying that it's coincidental donald trump came out in the middle of that speech but sources within the campaign say this is a hard thing to know it was coincidental. he saw ted cruz was getting booed and that's why he walked out. today there's back and forth between the trump campaign and ted cruz. ted cruz telling reporters that he and delegates, he is not donald trump's servile poppy, that donald trump insults his family. he brought his wife heidi into it, that this was a personal battle with him and any

expectation that he would cave in and endorse a man he doesn't believe in is just ludicrous. he got a lot of pushback from the texas delegation on that. there's a lot of people at this convention who believe he should have fallen in line for the sake of the party, for. so far the cam spain people are saying ted cruz is serving his political ambitions, has unify it had party for donald trump. >> i want to play a snippet of not last night but ted cruz a short time ago before the hometo hometown. here it is. >> i am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and my father. that pledge was not a blanket equipment that if you go and slander and attack heidi that i'm going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog and say thank you very much for

maligning my wife and father. can anyone imagine our nominee standing in front of voters answering questions like this? >> so clearly the texas senator took all of that personally. he came into the convention hall with a chip on his shoulder. why is the campaign saying they allowed him to speak in the 9:00 hour -- this is prime time wednesday night before the vp pick, why let him speak then? >> the campaign says donald trump is trying to be the bigger person. that they saw the remarks and they would find it to be inappropriate to pull his speech at the last minute. they were trying to unify the party to show they were big enough to allow their rivals to go on stage. they believe it would work in their favor. we have roger stone. i want to see if roger would talk about this. tell me, why would donald trump

allow ted cruz to speak. >> every one of his opponents was invited to speak. governor walker. senator marco rubio and chris christie all agreed and they also all agreed to endorse the ticket. ted cruz agreed to support the ticket and say he was voting for the ticket but tricky stred a treacherous fellow and he broke his word. if people know you can't be believed, what else do you have? >> i have talked to officials in the came who assure me they were surprised. donald trump looked magnanimous, he invited the guy who ran the toughest race against him to come to the podium and he was stabbed in the back. contrast that to 1964, the party endorses barry goldwater, a likely loser, in this case i think trump will win nelson rockefeller takes a powder, george romney takes a powder, richard nixon sees only opportunity. he introduces goldwater then

hits 38 states for goldwater. four years later, who 's the guy? richard nixon because he stood with his biggest battle. >> i want to ask you one last question. donald trump's campaign is calling him coming out coincidental. i have a hard time believing that it's coincidental for donald trump to come out there while ted cruz is getting booed and think he won't incite the boos. >> paul manafort is a very, very clever fellow. >> thank you, roger. craig, back to you. >> [ laughter ] >> katy tur, thank you so much for spotting roger stone and tracking him down. >> in a beautiful coat no less. >> you beat me to it. i was going to compliment him. tricky ted is a very treacherous fellow. that sounded like a line he was prepared to give. katy, thank you, trump family, trump supporters furious over all of this. this is just a taste of that reactio reaction. >> it was silly, don't come out on stage if you don't want to be

supportive. >> you're going to accept prime time television from donald trump and you don't have the decency and manners and the common decency and goodness to endorse a man who gave you the opportunity to speak on national television in prime time, that shows he's a fraud, a liar, the guy we've come to hate in washington. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell tracking the story from the cruz side. she is also there on the floor inside the q. kelly, we just heard from trump confidante roger stone. we've heard from a number of lawmakers how is this going over inside the cruz camp? >> it's so interesting we had access to roger stone there because as a political bhis perrer in donald trump's ears, that was very telling when he call him tricky ted. we may hear that again. let me give you the lay of the land. we are in the q on the floor and you will see the media is here, full attendance time.

we're being kept about a dozen rows back. that's highlynusual and we are waiting for donald trump to come home through his walk throughs. we're telling you about when speakers have a chance to get a feel for the stage, the lectern, the teleprompter, all of those things. we have been waiting to see trump there has been a huge crowd on the stage at different times and i understand katy might have a special view for us. back to you, craig. >> katy tur, i believe we have new york congressman peter king. katy, are you there? >> i am and we do have peter king. talk to me about the drama him saying donald trump went after his family. donald trump did go after his family. do you not understand where he might have been coming from? >> if that was the case, he should have stayed home. if you feel that strongly, don't take advantage of an invitation to get prime time television and not endorse the person who

invited you. to me there's an obligation. just a -- if you're a decent person that was expected. this is the ted cruz i have known. you can't trust him, he's a fraud so all america see what is ted cruz is about. >> he's made no friends in congress. >> no friends anywhere. he's lost most of the delegates. even people who had been cruz supporters were talking about how disappointed they were. that was the essence of ted cruz, narcissistic and self-center. >> this was a messy primary campaign and it got personal and donald trump went after ted cruz's family. regardless of what he said on stage, do you think he might have been owed an apology for claiming his father might have something to do with the assassination of jfk. >> right or wrong there's things said in politics. >> is that stuff said in politics? >> here's the point. ted cruz, felt that strongly, stay in texas, put out a statement saying i can't endorse

donald trump for these reasons, don't come up there and go through it and say vote your conscience. he should have stayed home and not made any speech at all and came out against trump. >> how do you feel about your party? >> i think we here in good shape. the media has a hard time realizing that but donald trump runs an unorthodox campaign. everyone said what he did was wrong and he won. he's united most of the republican party and he's going to pick up inspects and democrats. if he can get the reagan democrat, giuliani democrats, the independent voters, even bernie sanders people who are mad at the establishment, donald trump can win this. i tell you a very high negatives with hillary clinton. >> thank you, congressman king. craig, back to you. >> katy tur, thank you so much. kelly, i want to bring you back in here. in your opinion the middle of a thought. do you remember where you were? >> well, we were going to get back to that tuesday issue. we're waiting for a flurry behind us. and when that happens when donald trump arrives we'll live

in that moment because that will be something congress man king said it's reasonable that donald trump spoke about his father and wife and that connection to the jfk assassination is because of course rafael cruz is cuban and lee harvey oswald had been aligned with the fair play for cuba group and that was the thread in the conspiracy world that was ramped up about trying to link rafael cruz to lee harvey oswald. you can imagine a son would take offense but as congressman king points out there's is choice to be made in coming here to use this time. i talked to senator cruz in washington where they were in the business of daily senate work and he said he hoped to come here and speak about conservative principles and to thank all of those voters who

supported him. we know they're supporting him. heidi cruz was under pressure as well. there were those around her who felt that the atmosphere in the room had turned and it was best to escort her out. so i was told not to expect the endorsement so as we've reported that was clearly known. what the trump and cruz people didn't know is that the room would turn. there was an expectation if cruz was going to take valuable real estate on the stage and prime speaking minutes that he would be more gracious toward trump. people in cruz's world felt he had been gracious because he congratulated donald trump for winning but as i was talking to delegates who said he's got to do it, he has to endorse, there was frustration even among texas

delegates he was not playing by the accepted play book of politics. that has been thrown out a lot in the world of trump and for ted cruz he, too, was laying a marker. if it was revenge he was seeking perhaps he got blowback. if he was trying to stage a platform for 2020, we'll see how it plays out over time. all of the republican candidates, office holders, republican and democrat i'm not sure there's anyone who is as imeveryones you to criticism from other elected officials than ted cruz. so to that degree not sure it mattered to him. >> kelly, stand by. as promised that flurry of activity you mentioned seems to be about to unfold. the q center, traditionally the prime time speaker comes out for a walk through.

meanwhile, ken paxton is the republican attorney general of texas. thank you so much for being with me. >> sure. tricky ted, narcissistic, that's all within the last ten minutes. what was he thinking? >> i think he's done a good job for texas over the last several years he's been in the senate and he still is and i continue to support him. >> you support last night as well? >> he made mention of us voting our conscience. i am a donald trump supporter, i'm moving forward past this day and after today it's donald trump versus zblik you firmly believe that? >> i think after today we move on. >> how would you characterize the events over the past few days? the convention at large. >> we had 17 candidates. we've never had that many. they're outstanding people. people had their support for

different candidates and it takes a while for people to come together but this convention we have been moving forward. so you would characterize it as good for chaos, plagiarism? >> it's a family feud. once you get outside of the family we'll see a tune paid to party. >> you have prominent republican congressm congressmen calling the senator from texas self-center, narcissistic. chris christie they haven't let up. they spent the best part of the morning laying it on thicker. how does that spell unity? >> if he were the nominee i would have concerns but donald trump is our nominee so i'm supporting donald trump texas will support donald trump. i care about the race between donald trump and hillary clinton, not what ted cruz is doing tomorrow. >> there's something else that struck me last night.

for the first time we heard a republican speaker mention alton sterling. we heard a republican speaker speak openly about gay americans. this is what he said. i want to play it for our viewers and listeners at home. >> sergeant michael smith stood up to protect our freedom. do do the soldiers and airmen and marines fighting radical islamic terrorism and so did the family of alton sterling who bravely called to end the violence. whether you are gay or straight, the bill of rights protects the rights of all of us to live according to our conscience. >> that speech seemed to be very different from speeches ted cruz was giving two months ago.

would you concede that point? >> i don't know how it was. he had interesting point but he's been a consistent conservative throughout his time in office. >> you're a donald trump guy. what do you need to hear from him? >> i want to hear specifics about the economy because if he can play that role of talking about the economy and the differences that he has on international relations and supreme court nominees, he'll make a distinction between himself and hillary. most americans will see there's a clear choice here. >> texas attorney general kim ken paxton, thank you for stopping by. left side of your screen, flurry of activity inn the q. we're keeping a close eye on whether tonight's prime time speaker donald trump mirjs from the flurry of activity. was it about his 2020 aspirations. a guy who knows ted cruz better than most, rick tyler on the other side of this break. more live from cleveland after this. i'm hillary clinton and i approved this message.

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>> i assume there's a reason the trump campaign wanted me to speak. they knew what i was going to say. they saw my speech several hours before i gave it. >> this is texas senator ted cruz defending his convention speech today in an appearance before the texas delegation to quell the firestorm he's been receiving for failing to endorse donald trump. i'm joined by rick tyler, former campaign spokesman for the ted cruz campaign and an msnbc political analyst. i know you spent time with the senator yesterday before he gave the speech. did you get the sense he knew what was coming? did you get the sense he knew there was a good chance that was going to go over like a far in church?

>> sure. >> cruz gave what i thought was a substantive impressive bold speech. he didn't criticize donald trump. in fact, he congratulated him. >> rick, he mentioned his name once. >> but he didn't say anything derogatory. he hasn't throughout despite the fact that donald trump -- why is it incumbent upon ted cruz to unite the party? leaders unite the party. the leader of the party is donald trump. hang on, rick. hang on one second, donald j. trump your nominee making his way inside the quicken loans arena. katy tur, not just donald j. trump, looks like he has the family in tow as well. >> repeat that question one more time. >> there was no question i was just talking about the fact that mr. trump entering the arena. he has family members in tow.

it will be interesting to see how much time he spends on the teleprompter tonight and how much time he decides to spend being donald trump. >> absolutely. this is the walk through for tonight's speech, something that was expect ed. he's going to get the lay of the land, figure out how he'll enter and leave and he'll be next seen on stage tonight after -- to accept the republican nomination. what will he say? we're told his remarks will center around the idea as america first. he's been trying to lay this out in the last few months trying to put into a more coherent formation what is in that speech we don't know because they have not given us prepared remarks i

expect there to be a greatest hits of his campaign season so far. we'll find out if we'll hear him say "build a wall" that's been a popular call and response on the campaign trail. it's what he's known for. but in some of these more carefully worded speeches that we've seen on foreign policy, on economics, we haven't necessarily seen him touch on th that. will we hear him talk about the muslim ban? his chairman said he's going to try to walk that back but donald trump has been wishy-washy on that subject in terms of where he officially stands now saying it could be territories that he would do extreme vetting on. but there has been no written statement saying they're changing this proposal, the muslim ban. so as it stands, i would say that donald trump is still proposing to ban all muslims since he's been so back and forth on this issue. the idea of job creation, then there's hillary clinton and all the harm he believes she will do

for this country and the corruption he claim she is has been a part of. this is standard fare right now for him walking through. they're going to give him the lay of the land here, craig, and we'll take a look as he's doing so. >> in addition to watch iing th republican nominee get ready for his speech, we see paul manafort there as well, a number of family members. kelly o'donnell also on the floor of the q as well. kelly, i want to come here in just a moment but while i have you here i want to ask you, in light of the events over the past three days do you think trump needs to alter speech he was prepared to give? do you think he needs to address any of what we've seen unfold? >> no. i think he should lay out a vision for the country. this campaign and frankly from a public relations standpoint has been a disaster. they had a story that went on for three and a half days that was melania's speech. they put that behind them and finally admitted it was true as opposed to this orwellian denial

they stuck with. now today is about ted cruz who gave a speech last night where they knew full well he wasn't going to endorse the candidate. he told name in person on the phone and when they put the text into the teleprompter they knew he wasn't going to endorse donald trump. >> kelly o, you've covered a number of these conventions. typically, fitypically the nomie on the final night gives a rah-rah speech and he tries to unite the party, tries to bring these factions together, these various factions together but he also typically spends some time trying to reach out to undecided voters. uncommitted voters. how much of the speech tonight can we expect to be more red meat to the base. how much of it it can -- can we expect to be an attempt to try and pull in some of the folks perhaps who have not made up their minds just yet? >> well, i certainly think we heard eric trump trying to reach out to people in that way. if you don't mind, i'm going to watch the stage with you here. some of the closest advisors to

donald trump are now on the stage so we are probably seconds away from trump himself coming out here. donald trump's aide has been on stage. paul manafort, campaign chairman, others in the inner circle. this is the kind of moment that is important. this is important, this opportunity lets donald trump feel the stage as a speaker, quite different than when he came out to introduce melania which was a brief set of remarks or came out to see mike pence. there's the tell prompter which we understand he's not fond of using but it allows him to see the text of his speech in front of him. they use the moments to set the microphone height to get a feel for it and when you are the nominee you never go without a squad i guess what they say now

and there is a huge one on stage. part security, part policy, part political advisors, part team. he's reaching out to voters who are in a way maybe he doesn't have to be the tweeting combative is personality we've seen. does he go more statesman? does he go more outreach? that's part of what we're watching for tonight will there be a way for him to thread a narrative? and here is donald trump, daughter ivanka will also speak tonight so i believe this will serve as an opportunity for her as well to test the stage. her husband jared kushner is with her there. he has been a -- really a

surprisingly influential family member give than he doesn't have political experience but someone who speaks to donald trump almost like no one else. there's trump at the lectern now. let's see if he might test the mik mike. >> kelly can you tell if there's text on the prompter right now? >> they use a place holder text which is the gettysburg address which is safe for everyone and they can scroll that to judge if the distances work and nobody is going to plagiarize abraham lincoln. that's there for everyone as a place holder. >> he's practicing his wave and thumbs up as well. we see paul manafort. there seems to be a slew of folks on that stage. who else do you see there? >> we have manafort. i'm seeing of the family just

jared kushner, ivanka, the man with the headset has been sort of the stage manager for all of these events and he's been working with each of the speakers to help them with some direction on the use of the microphone, space to stand back, all of those things, there is no way to overestimate the importance of this for the trump family tonight, for ivanka to have a strong evening, for donald trump to have a strong evening. i also see hope hicks who has worked really side by side with donald trump almost always at his elbow through this year plus of the campaign. she is behind to his right on stage it appears the tie and dress are nicely coordinated for this photo-op. >> there was that technical glitch last night inside the quicken loans arena. they lost power to the monitors.

folks could not see it. it appears as if they worked it out inside the arena. kelly, off much better vantage point than i have but it looks like mr. trump is -- looks like he's cracking a joke. he just said something apparently quite funny to his daughter. i think kelly o that a lot of folks are very anxious to see which donald trump emerges tonight in the speech. ask this the disciplined presidential nominee that a lot of folks have been saying that they so desperately want to see or this going to be the donald trump that can't let certain thing s things go. does this address his wife's speech scandal? does decide to address the snubbing from ted cruz, does decide to address the hiccups or

does he just act as if all has gone hunky-dory? >> one thing i think we should watch for it is how he feeds off the energy of the room. as katy can speak being on the road with him, when you were at a donald trump event he takes oxygen from those who have come to attend and delegates would be very fired up and although it will be a repaired text scrolling in front of him on the teleprompter, expect that if he feels there's a moment where he is owning the room that's where we see him go off script, that's where we see him riff, that might be where -- i mean, ted cruz did a nod to the new york delegation, perhaps donald trump will give one to the texas delegation tonight. expect the unexpected is one thing. he even in this moment they are going to be mindful that this is the picture that will play for this afternoon until tonight's big events. again, important for ivanka who

has not done big speeches with teleprompters like this. her husband to her left and to be able to sort of -- i think tonight for donald trump it is part the message that is planned and part his mastery of the moment in terms of reading the crowd, reading the audience, playing to the cameras at home. not every nominee can do that to speak to the lens through people at home. that's something he's shown a facility for this campaign season. if he is setting us up for a surprise we're waiting for one. craig? >> i want to bring katy tur the into the conversation. katy tur just a few feet away from you. katy, set the scene. can you give us additional guidance from what you're hearing with regards to what we can expect tonight? >> i think kellye h-- kelly hit

the nail on the head. we asked if he spent a lot of time practicing on the teleprompter. we know he hasn't been so smooth, he stumbles from time to time which is unusual for him. he's less energetic on the tell prompter than he is when he's speaking off the cuff and i was told he's practicing but it's donald trump and he basically said like that. he is going to do what he wants and he feeds off the energy in a room. and that's how he's more comfortable. we'll see how much he sticks to the script on that prompter and how much he tries to riff on the energy in the room and whether he does say something to new york and i would imagine he would. remember his son don jr. put him over the edge as the delegates in new york that put him other the edge. does he say something to texas after their boos of ted cruz and being on the side of donald trump? also on the stage i'll add a couple other names.

his head of advance, he's been with donald trump before the campaign started. he builds these massive stages. this is has been a campaign like no other in terms of crowd size and george was tasked with that huge job of trying to figure out how many people can they fit in various locations. remember that huge rally he had in august of last year in mobile, alabama, where they expected potentially 40,000 people to show up. george had to find a venue for that. it was about 20,000 people. they found a college stadium or high school stadium to do that rally. ivanka, her husband jared kushner and donald trump's long time body man, his security guard keith shiller. he has been with donald trump now for decades. he know this is man, he understands his ticks, his habits. when he's in a good mood or bad

mood. this is the man at stage right right now looking over to the side. he's wearing the red tie, doing a bit of a shimmy because he sees me talking about him and he has been one of donald trump's -- i wouldn't say confidantes but one of donald trump's right hand men for decades now. he is a trusted person. donald trump asks his opinions on things from time to time as he does with much of his staff. he will go and get a sense of where they think that he -- what they think about certain decisions. whether he should take the stage early say at the convention center or whether he should choose governor mike pence. i'm told he went around through a number of people just to get their initial thoughts on it. that's the process of donald trump. that's how he works. he talks to everybody about things and he talks things through. after he's done with this walk through at the podium we're told he'll go stage left, exit by stage left and shake the hands of all these people who are waiting off to the side.

i asked who these folks are and how they got the enviable position of checking the republican nominee's hand as he does the walk through. i'm told they are employees of the q center to get their moment request with the republican nominee. this is a big night for him. it will be interesting to see how much he sticks to script. he does get himself into a little bit of hot water when he goes off script from time to time. when he says things off the cuff. when he veers into controversy, talks about the heritage of a federal judge, claims hillary clinton got blanked by obama during the 2008 election. he has a tendency to whip up a crowd and then feed off that crowd and that's when he either gets himself into trouble or finds himself reaping the benefits of that energy.

he's like a chameleon in a room. if the crowd is a excited, if the crowd is a crowd that is pro-second amendment, if it's a south on crowd he'll adjust to that rhetoric. and we're going to see how he does so tonight with this crowd mere at the convention center. >> katy tur, stand by for us there. again inside quicken loans. these faces that donald j. trump is making right now, kelly o'donnell, what can we make of these? oh, kelly o! did i interrupt you? did i interrupt you? >> the last time i was caught taking photos the pope was in washington. [ laughter ] clearly that is a line that was scripted for him because you know the usual drill is that he says "we're disgusting rotten and awful" so a little nod to

u us. >> thank you everybody, i love cleveland and they're doing a great job and the police are doing an incredible job. thank you very much. thank you. >> that was the money soundbite for the host city and the community. that will play over and over on local television and in this market and throughout ohio, the i love cleveland. i'd heard people who are here in the q say what we hope donald trump thanks cleveland. he just did it and so that is an important thing because you know how cities spend an awful lot of money. we've been talking to law enforcement here working long hours, hundreds of volunteers who have been brought there to be ambassadors of the city told to smile and be nice and friendly and welcome people to cleveland which is my hometown and so that was the payoff right there and the surprising nod to the media. it is a complicated relationship

we have with donald trump because he likes to beat up on us at his events. katy has lived this personally and at the same time he hangs on every word we report. he knows exactly what we've been saying because i'm not sure there's ever been a nominee who is as personally well read in on the clips and the broadcast. tonight he speak in more than 140 characters and it will be a chance for him to flesh out the ideas and try to connect in a way to voters who have not been in the room when he's whipping up the crowd. there will be democrats ready to pounce because the stage shift to hillary clinton, philadelphia, her selection of a running mate. potentially very quickly after this wraps. the balloons that are way up there there nets above us. i'm not sure, mark if you can

see that but way up in the rafters and tonight they will come down upon us. they are all set and ready to go for the big finale tonight. not long after those balloons start floating down upon us democrats will be trying to turn the page so they will look to what donald trump says tonight to help frame up their campaign as well and given the fact he knows that, that leads me to believe that he will try to make it a show, a spectacle, something compelling all the way to the end. >> well, it's going to be difficult to top that wwe entrance we saw a few nights ago. kelly, let me add my two cents. law enforcement. .

. how do you think he plays between two audiences? >> donald trump is a performer and he feeds off the energy of the crowds. when he does the tell prompter he lax that a little bit. so i suspect that he will go off tell prompter a couple times so he can get a good reaction from the crowd but it's also important to look into the camera and the people at home because most of the people -- experience they're getting is not in a hall, it's through the television. millions of people are watching this and they will be looking asly from donald trump what does the trump presidency look like. what would he accomplish with republicans in the house and senate. because he's been stepping -- the campaign has been stepping on their own message coming out of here and their message can't be -- you may not like donald trump but hillary is worse. that is not a winning message. i want to hear more substance

from donald trump tonight and i hope i get. >> it that's been a message that we've heard a lot of. so right now we are watching the nominee with a number of his trusted advisors. we've also seen paul manafort a number of times there walking through the big night. donald j. trump speaking in prime time, formally accepting the nomination. kelly o'donnell, daughter of cleveland and so the christine jansing, chris jansing also on the floor, one of cleveland's finest as well. chris, i understand that you've got a cousin there with you from ohio, no? >> no, no cousins, although i think everybody is related in one way or another to me. i did have a chance in the hallway, i ran into eric trump and just asked him, i said you know of course i had to say it was a huge night for his dad and he laughed and said yes, it is. i said he's got to be feeling nerves, there is no way this is not one of the biggest moments

of his life and as i've been talking to people who have run campaigns before us, successful presidential campaigns, they talk about two different campaigns, one is this night to set the tone for your campaign and then the first debate which everybody knows is going to get blockbuster ratings but i said so he's got to be nervous and he laughed and said chris, you know my dad, have you ever known him to bend to pressure. he seemed very relaxed, he claims his dad is relaxed, he's feeling confident about what will happen here. we didn't go into detail about this speech. this is a family that feels like they're still on the right trajectory. whatever else has happened throughout this campaign they seem to feel like this week and tomorrow is going to be -- tomorrow the reviews will be good so he was feeling confident and he says his dad is feeling confident. craig? >> chris jansing, stand by, please, if you can, katy tur still there on the convention floor. i understand you've got new information for us.

>> yeah, and we're watching donald trump go through these hand shakes right now. this morning i learned that his speech tonight out of an abundance of caution will be going through plagiarism software. they want to make sure that this thing goes off without a hitch. they don't want any questions about it. they don't want accusations about it. at least when it comes to whether he may have lifted text from other places so they are being extraordinarily cautious with his speech which is a traditional measure that most campaigns would be taking regardless so the campaign is now becoming a little bit more traditional as time goes on, as they step into drama or controversy after controversy, paul manafort trying to get things running a little bit more smoothly inside this campaign but so far it has been a rocky road. tonight's a big night for donald trump. he's going to have to come out here and he's going to have to address this crowd, address the nation, he's going to have to

say why he believes he should be president of the united states. there will be a lot of eyes on him. the last thing the campaign want, craig sfor there to be another issue like they saw with melania's speech monday. >> katy, have you gotten the sense from sources inside the campaign how much of tonight's speech is going to be from donald trump's brain and from donald trump's heart and how much it's going to be the work of a number of senior staffers. how many hands have been in this cookie mix? >> well, the campaign will always say that donald trump is saying that these are donald trump's words and these are donald trump's ideas. he has been working with speech writers or people serving at least as speech writers for some time now. i'm told that one of his senior strategists, senior advisors, steven miller, who used to be on the jeff sessions team in congress will be working on this speech tonight. i asked if potentially governor chris christie is working on it as well. he's worked with speeches in the past. that is unclear at the moment.

paul ma -- manafort. i don't know how many people will be working on the speech with donald trump right now but in the past when we've seen him give these policy addresses the words might be a little bit more graceful than he might say off the cuff in rallies but they generally adhere to his ideas and his themes and we will find out if that is the way things go tonight. with donald trump you never know, craig. >> no, you do not. katy tur on the floor there at the q, katy, thank you. let's get back to chris jansing. i understand you have a delegate from the buckeye state. >> a couple of them and they're both big john kasich fans. now the question is for them and a lot of people not just in the ohio delegation but people who voted for other candidates, what's it going to take tonight to bring them around? are either of you convinced that donald trump is the man for the country? you still wishing it was john kasich? >> oh, i'm definitely convinced

that donald trump can be a great president. >> are you as well? >> yeah, look, i think a lot of us are going to support the nominee and most will support the nominee but we'd like to see more qualities in donald trump that john kasich has. we'd like the him to tone back the rhetoric a little bit and give a positive vision for the country instead of just attack, attack, attack. >> you were talking about friends of yours who -- there's a kasich supporter and a -- i'm sorry, a trump supporter and a hillary supporter and you said, well, that's ohio. among your friends who are unconvinced, who are on the fence, what do you think donald trump needs to do tonight? what does he need to say to win over voters? >> i think he needs to convince them that he can do the job. i think everybody understands the 30,000 mile overview that he does but i think that he needs to hone in and convince them that he really can do the job, he cares about them truly, he cares about doing a good job for

america and how he's going to do that. >> a little short on specifics, maybe? >> yes, yes. >> what about for you? >> yeah, he needs to get a positive vision for america. this will be the first time a lot of average ohioans are going to really see donald trump speak and so they really want to know what is he going to do to help take ohio and america to the next level to fix our problems and to fix everyday problems instead of just the random attacks. we want to see specific policy ideas to make america better. >> now, you were way over there in the corner, there was a little -- let's call it a kerfuffle between the rnc and the campaign and john kasich who has not come here, who is not supported -- although you had breakfast with him today. how do you feel as ohioans and do you think that the trump campaign hurt itself by the way either it's treated john kasich or treated your delegation? >> well, i think -- i'm not big on the seating, that doesn't matter to us. in fact, we have the only phone

charger over there to plug in our phones so we like that. but, yeah, i mean, look, paul manafort said nasty things about the governor this week. that's not helpful. people are saying that the governor should endorse mr. trump and i think trump. i think he wants to, but when you say divisive things, it doesn't help unify us. i think they need to extend an olive branch to governor kasich and would come around. >> thanks to both of you. and enjoy the rest of your time in cleveland. so she's already giving it a big thumbs up. that's obviously the challenge for donald trump. it's this audience, but the bigger audience out there has had a rough, rough three days for his campaign, for his roll out. now there's a big chance to turn it around because this is a huge night for him and a chance to get millions of eyeballs and show people the number one thing you have to do with this speech is look presidential, convince people that you're a leader.

>> chris jansing there on the floor for us there. we just heard talking about the balloon drop. that always marks the end of the convention. these well produced videos that typically proceed the candidate. have we gotten any insight to what the video will look like. is there going to be a cool voice that they use? anything like that? >> i wish had i had an answer for you. this campaign is not like traditional campaigns. they don't tell you about these things prior to doing them. so your guess is as good as mine. i'm not sure we're going to know until the press play behind the scenes and we vsee the video on the screens. it's safe to say donald trump is a showman.

he came out to introduce melania trump from behind that screen. he was in silhouette. it was like wwe with smoke and mirrors. it was a show. since then the convention has been accused of not being such a well produced show. e he didn't deliver the celebrities and the winners that he might have said that he was going to deliver. might have claimed that he was going to deliver. a little lackluster in that department. you have to admit with this drama in ted cruz, that almost was a a better show than any big name celebrity donald trump could have delivered to this convention. it was reality show drama playing out on live television. donald trump and interrupting it. and even though this convention hasn't gone off without a hitch, the success has been in terms of attention it's gotten. >> katy tur on the floor inside

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we are back live here in cleveland. this was the scene a few moments ago inside the arena. donald trump preparing for his big night. we saw the official walk-through. mr. trump there with his daughter ivanka. he did not speak other than "i love cleveland." we heard him say that. we also heard him say i love the media. such honest people. it will be interesting to see if those remarks make their way into the final script for tonight. the chairman of the senate republican policy committee. he has been here in claeveland. this is your second week here. how would you characterize the

convention so far? >> raw cuss and energetic. in the fast they say these are too dull. this is not a dull convention. it's very exciting and festive. >> it has been anything but predictable. >> what do you need to hear from trump tonight. what do you hope to hear from trump tonight? >> i hope he focuses on the things that the american people are concerned about. jobs, the economy, national security. national security is not just border security. it's energy security, economic security, and i expect to hear about change versus more of the same, where hillary clinton is more the same. the last eight years we can't afford another four years like that. he represents the change that america needs. >> despite what you just said, security and there have been themes every night. it seems as if much of the week has been devoted to trashing hillary clinton. it seems as if a lot of the week has been, she's awful, lock her up, she's a liar.

it's not been a full-throated endorsement of donald trump and his policies. >> the platform i was chairman of that committee. we came o ut with a positive policy agenda -- >> we have heard nothing about it. >> we heard about it on the floor. i heard about it in the hall. it's a conservative policy that really does focus on fundamental change in the direction of america to get people back to work. people who are struggling, suffering, sacrificing. get people back to work, focus on increasing the economy. you read the democratic platform it's about e redistribution of worth. says little at all about economic growth, which is the way you actually get a strong and healthy economy going. >> as you watched and listened to your senate colleague ted cruz, were you cheer iing or cringing? >> i'm focused on winning this election in 2016. it seemed like ted was focused on 2020. i thought he would come in and

give a speech like ronald reagan did when he had the battle with gerald ford. when ronald reagan gave the speech, people said we should have nominated ronald reagan. i didn't hear any of that about ted. i think he rained on his own parade last night. >> you got to wonder why they campaign. why the trump folks would allow ted cruz to speak in prime time on wednesday night short ly before mike pence is going to speak knowing the history there. according to cruz, they saw the comments. they knew he wasn't going to endorse him. so why let him do that? >> ted gave the speech, but he pulled a speech out of his pocket. i served in the senate for the last four years. i have never seen him pull a speech out. he usually just goes on. so i was wondering what is he really going to say. they are a team. >> i didn't see that last night.

>> i saw it big. >> we were inside the hall last night. >> he had to walk in and cut off ted cruz. >> people were booing that ted wasn't endorsing donald trump. it would have been a great opportunity to bring people together. >> it does not get this humid in wyoming. >> it's hot. >> it is. it is hot here in cleveland. it's been fantastic. stay tuned to msnbc for all of tonight ice coverage. thomas roberts picking up our coverage next. >> a big tv show. i think it is a tv show right now with everything we have going on. hey, gang. we have a lot to talk about as we just saw with you giving us the preview of donald trump at the q. this is his big moment coming up tonight. we saw him there with the trump team and his daughter ivanka. ivanka is going to introduce her father. this is a big moment for donald trump who are is accepting